Alias?: None notedPension?: UnknownPortrait?: UnknownCollege?: Not FoundVeterans Home?: Not Found
(If there are state digraphs above, this soldier spent some time in a state or national soldiers' home in that state after the war)

Obituary

Source: Bennington BannerThursday, October 1, 1903

NATIVE OF SHAFTSBURY

Col. Stephen B. Oatman Died Recently at Atlanta, Ga.

News has been received of the recent death in the Confederate soldiers' home at Atlanta, Ga., of Stephen B. Oatman aged 88 years. Mr. Oatman was a native of Shaftsbury, was a brother of the late A.B. Oatman of this village, and has relatives now living in both towns.

He went south over 50 years ago and before the civil war, was engaged in the marble business. In this he accumulated some property which he lost during the war. He espoused the cause of the south, entered the army, had an excellent reputation as a soldier and reached the rank of colonel before the war ended. He leaves no immediate family, but occasionally corresponded with the relatives residing in this section.

According to his 1897 indigent pension application and annual re-applications until his death, Stephen B. Oatman served at least 18 months in Co. 4 of the Georgia Fire Battalion, a uniformed, drilled and inspected organization that served until the surrender of Atlanta, and also as a private in Co. E, 3rd Battalion, George State Guard. He had lived in Atlanta since 1840. (Georgia Confederate Pension Applications, 1879-1960, Fulton County, Georgia, www.ancestry.com)

In addition, he was an Atlanta City Councilman, in at least 1862 and 1863, and served on the city's Relief Committee, and Board of Health. In July 1863, he was part of a reception committee, that presented General Nathan B. Forrest with the freedom of the city, and a horse and equipment when he visited. Pioneer Citizens' History of Atlanta 1833-1902, Pioneer Citizens' Society, Atlanta: Byrd Printing Co., 1902.

In 1862, he was also Treasurer, St. Philip's Hospital and Aid Society, and President, Atlanta Amateurs, an aid society that raised funds for volunteers and their families. Also, on 16 August 1862, General Braxton Bragg appointed J. M. Calhoun, of Atlanta, as Civil Governor to oversee martial law in the city. Oatman was a member of the committee to assist him. Wallace Putnam Reed, History of Atlanta, Georgia, Syracuse, NY: D. Mason & Co., 1889.